Chapter 14: Finally 12!
Astra had finally turned twelve, but the goddess still hasn't come. Astra's parents threw her a birthday party.
"Astra~ are you sure that you have to leave today?"
Astra's father whined.
"Yes, father."
"Astra~"
"Don't pester Astra so much!"
Her mother scolded Astra's father who looked at Astra and her mother with teary eyes.
"But, darling~ couldn't we at least throw a grand birthday party to show off Astra's cuteness?"
Astra's father suddenly gasped as he realized something.
"Oh, that's right! Astra's cuteness is to be feared! Who knows how many more suitors would come?"
Astra looked at her father quizzically.
"What do you mean by 'more'?"
"Ohohoho... Nothing, right dear~?
Her mother was grasping her father's shoulder tightly.
"Y-y-yes. T-t-that's right, darling."
Her father seemed to be in pain as he stammered. Astra decided not to question the topic since it seemed to be a delicate topic.
•••
Since Astra was free to live on her own, the first thing that she decided to do was to visit Phantoms of the Night, the organization that she created when she was seven years old.
She teleported to the eastern forest where the secret base was located. The reason why the base still hadn't been discovered was because Astra had cast a barrier spell so that nobody who unauthorized could get in. In fact, they wouldn't even be able to see it.
You could say that the base was located in a dimension thinly tied to this world. This was a space that Astra created. To further enhance the safety of the base, she connected it to the deserted eastern forest.
The eastern forest was deserted due to the lack of resources and the enchanted trees that have a mind of their own. Legend says that an evil magician cast a spell on the trees as he was escaping, however, he died from a lightning strike from the Heavens.
The trees were quite dangerous and could regenerate quickly, but Astra welcomed the challenge. She even designed a training ground with enchanted trees as obstacles for herself and the members that joined her organization. Of course, Astra also added a safety function that would cause the enchanted trees to stop functioning.
Thinking of the children as well as dark elf that joined, Astra found herself smiling. She could only show her true appearance to them. Of course, they were quite surprised, but they treated her normally as their leader. They called her Phantom Diana because only a select few, including the ten original members, knew of her existence.
They picked up sacrifices and trained those who wished to become members. Those in training thought that the dark elf was the boss. After rigorous selections and testing their trustworthiness, they would reveal the real "boss." Of course, members only comprised of girls because they found men and their lust to be irritating. The hierarchy is like this:
Phantom: Astra (Diana)
The Ten Phantom Shadows: Amadora (oldest and dark elf), Luna (second oldest of the original ten), Claire (third oldest), Amber (fourth oldest), Ava (fifth oldest), Mia (sixth oldest), Isabella (seventh oldest), Olivia (eighth oldest), Charlotte (ninth oldest), and Emma (youngest)
Excellent Named Shadows (Those who are trusted enough to know of secret information)
Named Shadows (Those named by the Ten Phantom Shadows)
Trained Shadows (Shadows who have finished their training, but aren't excellent enough to be named)
Shadows-in-Training (As the name implies, Shadows that are training.)
Astra went into the space.
"I'm back~"
The Ten Phantom Shadows welcomed Astra.
"Welcome back, Phantom Diana."
"Amadora, please hand me the report."
"Yes, certainly."
Astra read the report that Amadora gave her.
"Hmm.... it seems that there's a base on the edge of the western forest."
Astra handed the report back to Amadora who read it carefully.
"As expected of the Phantom! The clues certainly lead up to the western forest!"
"So, how many bases are left in Gardenia?"
"Just the one that you discovered and a bar on Main Street."
This time, Luna answered.
"Tonight, Phantoms of the Night shall destroy both!"
The Ten Phantom Shadows nodded and headed out to prepare.
Weekly Power Status
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Ranking 
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